An alternate explanation
by 22671991
Summary: A more realistic explanation of the kiss in episode XXI of Kiddy Grade. At least I think it's episode 21 Rated K but I'm not too good with ratings so just be careful. Also, the relationship here is sheer speculation.


Disclaimers and stuff: I don't own none of this. Neither do you.

I'll get back to finishing off my existing projects soon, I promise.

* * *

Lumiere had looked as serene as ever just lying there, seemingly dead to the outside world, her eyes flickering about constantly behind their lids. It was almost unnerving how still she had become lately, given the amount of restless fidgeting she had been doing not so many hours ago. She had certainly lost the feverish sweat and that horribly flush. That should be reassuring… 

For whatever reason, Éclair had felt only that bit more uneasy if anything. It had been a troubling time in all, even after everything that had happened. Sitting there next to that huge, expensive four-poster bed and staring expectantly over the inert body of her partner, it had felt as if the world was closing in around her like a giant fist. She had _had_ to do _something_ about it. Wirbelwind had assured her that the procedure was going fine, but Lumiere still just lay there.

She might not have actually meant to _kiss_ her partner, but, well…Éclair was not quite too sure how that had happened. It had just happened before she had a chance to think about it too much, and then Lumiere was squirming and pushing against her chest as she woke.

"Wha…the?"

Éclair opened her mouth and for a second or two, nothing much came out. Thankfully, Lumiere filled the gap quite nicely with a puzzled frown.

"What…why did…" She shook the sudden rush of curiosity out of her head and then looked down at the covers, trying to stop blushing. "What's going on?"

"Wirbelwind fixed you!" declared Éclair with her usual inappropriate cheerfulness. She held out a glass to the bed-bound girl, filled almost to the brim with some deep purple liquid. "And I came all this way to get you out of bed with the very best of your stash."

"Wha…" Lumiere turned on her and glared at the bottle. "Where did you get that?"

"Wirbelwind gave it to me! He said you were keeping it for a 'special occasion' and we both thought that this counted as extra special." She rubbed a hand behind her head as the green-haired young girl took the glass from her and inspected it slowly. "I was gonna come share a glass with you when you woke up, but…er…" She trailed off and instead peered down at something off to her left for a moment.

"Wirbelwind!" Lumiere seemed rather outraged, and very much distracted as she rose from her bed and leaned out towards the wide bay window, glaring at LaMuse hovering idly outside. "Why did you let her take that bottle! I was saving that!"

There was a considerable pause, during which Éclair could only really shuffle her feet and feel somewhat awkward. When Lumiere's expression turned troubled, she started worrying again.

"Wirbelwind! Wirbelwind, why won't you answer me?"

"You…"

Lumiere gasped. "I can't…I can't hear them." She turned and looked towards the multitude of robot servants standing near the doorway, her expression wavering slightly. "I can't hear anyone any more. My power…"

Éclair rested one hand on the smaller girl's shoulder and squeezed gently, what she hoped would come across as the reassuring gesture it was meant as. "We'll tell the Chief. Maybe she can do something."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was actually quite a while before the two pioneering young officers found themselves with any real time to relax again. When they did, Éclair pouted and teased and cajoled until her petite partner agreed to a nice, relaxing night out at a nice, secluded restaurant somewhere in the depths of the city. Of course, Lumiere had dressed as elegantly as ever, despite her brand new body, in a rather fetching pale green gown that hung down in a wide, open hoop just above her knees. Her hair hung down loosely behind her head, but sat in two neat little half-twist curls that dangled either side of her face in something of an echo of her former favourite hairstyle.

Éclair, on the other hand, had dressed down for the occasion, into a snug-fitting spaghetti strap blouse that showed off her 'little extra' to wonderful effect, and a skirt which almost rivalled that atrociously short red dress that had been her GOTT uniform for so many missions. Her hair was free as ever to do as it pleased, and that generally consisted of just bouncing around prettily and framing that brand new (and fairly lovely, if she might say so herself) face of hers. She was _not_ wearing lipstick, but that was a small price to pay in retrospect. She looked truly excited, however, and it shone through her from head to toe. It was almost as if someone had plugged her into her own little nuclear reactor, Lumiere mused for a moment before realising that sounded rather silly.

The restaurant was nothing extravagant; just a comfortably expensive little establishment buried deep in one of the residential districts, away from most of the competition. It looked professional, but it had the atmosphere of a more traditional sort than most of the modern, business-run places that most had become over time as the city had developed. There was little real open ground on the main floor besides the tables, but it was comfortably spacious enough, especially the short row of two-seat tables arranged along the front wall in front of those expansive panel windows. The light, thankfully, was softer and warmer than the usual fluorescence or those bright white street lights. Just like a restaurant should be, Lumiere thought to herself, for the comfort of its patrons.

Despite having been planned as just some little post-mission get together to cool down after all that they had been through, it was actually quite the evening. The food was delicious, which might explain how Éclair managed to eat just about everything presented her including the appetizer and _still_ have room for two desserts. Lumiere just sat, blushing, trying not to sigh resignedly and offered her immortal words of wisdom at regular intervals, for which Éclair showed no real concern at all. It did not really surprise her. They had talked, chatted, conversed in such a casual atmosphere as they had not in quite a while, for which Lumiere found herself increasingly grateful. Such a relief it was to be learning that her partner was well and truly back on the right track, along with their relationship.

That thought brought her up a little short, though Éclair seemed not to notice as she rambled on boisterously about…something or other. The word 'relationship' seemed to catch in her brain, as if it were an uncomfortable subject. When she really thought about it, she could understand why.

But no, this would be an evening to enjoy. An evening for the two most hard-working, dedicated and above all, 'interesting' members that the GOTT had ever had. A kiss was far from either of the girls' minds.

"So, um, about that…kiss…"

Or it was far from Lumiere's mind, at least.

Okay, maybe not.

Lumiere coughed demurely into her hand and then swallowed down. "Yes?" she replied in her most pleasant tone.

"Er…well…" Éclair laughed weakly, which was one of many ways her partner had of knowing the older girl was lost for words. Lumiere suppressed a sigh, but could not fight down the blush that came with it.

"It's okay, Éclair," she replied, waving a hand dismissively. "You had your reasons, I'm sure."

Éclair put a hand behind her head, flushed ever so slightly herself. "Well, y'see…that's the problem. I kinda didn't." Lumiere tried not to let the surprise show on her face, instead masking it over with a look of genuine intrigue.

"What do you mean? Then why…" Éclair held up a hand to stop her.

"I don't think I consciously had any reason, but I think…I think I've come to understand why I did it."

"Oh?"

Éclair gave her a look that was half grin and half pout. "It took me hours of contemplation for this, y'know. I burnt away a lot of time and effort for you."

Lumiere looked down at her still not-empty plate of crêpes and blushed again, though at least not as badly as before. "Well I do hope I didn't impose on you _too_ much, Écla…hm?" She stopped when her partner reached across the table to take her hand. She looked up again, still blushing slightly and feeling just a little nervous for some reason.

Éclair was looking at her with a very…interesting expression; a sort of lazy little half smile, eyes not really open as wide as they usually were, as if she were not so bothered about her surroundings as was her normal exuberant self. Her lips curled up even wider when she spoke,

"I think I'm in love with you."

Blunt as ever.

It took Lumiere's impressive mental data analysis skills a shockingly long few moments to process that sentence into something coherent, and when it came through she could only gasp in response and stiffen in her seat.

"Er…you said…with…I er…" She gesticulated seemingly at random for a while, with only one hand seeing as how the other was still clutched tightly. She tried admirably to just straighten herself out and think about the situation, but it was one of those things that she had simply never planned for. The whole thing had caught her completely by surprise.

Before any more could be said, Éclair's earring started beeping like an angry wasp buzzing by her ear, nagging for her attention. She could not possibly just ignore it. And, as luck would have it, it _was_ the chief. Something about some big up-coming assignment of some sort; that snapped Lumiere's brain back into its usual functions. With the two of them both fully coherent again, the exchange was thankfully short and to the point.

All that was left in the end was to pay, which Éclair insisted she could take care of herself, and then they said a pleasant good night and went their separate ways. Unfortunately, Lumiere found she could not rub the blush from her cheeks all the rest of the night, and her cheeks were still pink by the time she turned in for the night…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their next assignment took them on a long, boring trip out to one of the more remote populated systems, for not much more than a delivery job. Eclipse argued at their briefing that, what with Lumiere having no control over her power as of her resuscitation and the both of them being the budding young galactic celebrities after their actions during the GOTT take-over, a nice quiet mission was in order. Éclair had argued, to the contrary, that some more time off would be better, but their superior was adamant that they keep themselves _in top condition_ for the time being.

"Stupid chief," grumbled Éclair as she tossed another cork at Donnerschlag's 'head' sitting between the LaMuse's two main consoles. The computerised creation just made a few beeping noises as something small and rubbery bounced neatly off the domed blue carapace just above his left 'eye' piece. Lumiere sighed, again, and turned her chair around to see what was going on now.

Éclair had sprawled herself out, quite un-ladylike one might add, across the couch curving around the rear section of LaMuse's bridge area, her legs right up and her feet dangling over the upper ledge while her head hung off the front edge of the couch, staring upside-down towards her intended target. She looked utterly bored, but in a remarkable display of her natural vivacity that really should not have surprised Lumiere at all, she had roamed the ship for several hours collecting all the corks she could find from wherever they lay and was now flicking them off Donnerschlag's head. For his part, the robot seemed not to really mind, giving his mistress quiet encouragement whenever she made what could be considered a 'good shot'. Of course, the unfortunate by-product would be the growing mess down between the main control consoles where all those corks were slowly piling up.

"Booooored," whined Éclair with a most adorable pout. Lumiere giggled and her partner turned on her now, pouting even harder. "Hey, this is your fault too! You wouldn't let us stop over at that tourist resort while we were there."

"We were on a mission, Éclair," replied the shorter girl in a very demure, sensible tone, trying not to let herself giggle. "What would chief Eclipse say if she found out that you had taken advantage of her orders and abused the GOTT's time, or that I had _let_ you?"

Éclair stuck her tongue out. "You're being silly, Lumiere. I'm sure the chief wanted us to take a little vacation while we're out here. I know I could sure do with it."

Lumiere met her eyes for a moment, but then something a tad unusual happened. When she was just about to say something chiding, she realised she was staring. Éclair was blushing. Then they both looked away and an uncomfortable pause drifted in like an unwelcome guest. After what seemed like an unreasonably long time, Éclair rolled over and twisted to plant her feet firmly on the floor. She stood, brushed herself off, and then turned. "I should go check on our auditor," she offered pathetically. "He's been gone-…"

"Éclair," her partner interrupted. "We _need_ to talk about this."

Éclair started away again. A second time, Lumiere's voice was even more pleading than before. "Éclair, _please_, talk to me."

"What do you want me to say? I've already told you how I feel."

"But…"

When it was clear Lumiere had lost whatever she was planning to say, Éclair sighed exasperatedly and collapsed back into the couch, this time the right way up at least. She patted the space beside herself and, after much internal deliberation, Lumiere rose from her seat and shuffled over to tentatively park herself down next to her partner with a comfortable gap between them.

"Okay, then," said Éclair in a definite voice, trying to stay cheerful. "Where shall we start?"

"How about…we start with…why you kissed me?"

Éclair looked down at her diminutive partner, that same soft, contented little half-smile creeping back in that made Lumiere blush despite herself. "Because I'm in love with you."

"Yes, well…" Lumiere coughed into her hand. When she started to say more, Éclair held up one finger in front of the smaller girl's face.

"Now I can tell you're not taking me seriously here," she pouted, "So I'm going to have to make you believe me, aren't I?"

No, thought Lumiere. "If…you feel it necessary," she said, trying not to blush any harder.

Éclair cleared her throat and closed her eyes for a moment, apparently lost in thought, before she spoke again. "Well then, I suppose the strain might be the biggest hint."

"The…strain?"

Éclair nodded gravely. "The most horrible feeling in me. There was…every mission had its bad and good points, I think you'll agree with me there. But for every mission, the worst part for me would be sitting in the LaMuse, ready to go, worrying to myself over all the different ways one of us might get killed."

Lumiere gasped softly. "I never knew you thought like that."

"Hey, I can be serious when I really want to, y'know."

"Okay," Lumiere giggled. "What about this then?"

"Well, like I said that night, I've thought about it good and hard. When I looked back over it, I kept finding more and more that I worried about _you_ rather than _us_. I was becoming ever more afraid that I'd lose you, but I don't think I really consciously noticed it."

"Well, that…er…" Lumiere looked away, her face turning redder again. Éclair's hand on her shoulder turned her gently back towards her taller partner.

"When the chief told me what was wrong with you, y'know…I…I didn't take it too well. I think I might have screamed at her, actually." Éclair rubbed a hand against the back of her head with an embarrassed little laugh. "It's just…the way I was sorta stuck there, watching you die… It hurt. It felt like…my life was coming apart."

Lumiere looked away again. "I'm…flattered."

"Hey," chided her partner, reaching out to cup the young girl's cheek and look her in the eye again. "You're a big part of my life, y'know, you always were. I'm sure all the other ES teams could say the same for their partners."

"Oh, you mean…sorry. I think I misunderstood."

Éclair shook her head. "No, I think the problem is, _I_ misunderstood. I misunderstood my own feelings. By the time I knew what I was doing, I was shooting holes in LaMuse and…"

"You did WHAT?"

Maybe that was a bad thing to say.

Éclair rubbed the back of her head again and tried not to look directly at the most infuriated, glowering young girl beside her. "Well, erm…I…sorta destroyed a few of Wirbelwind's panel screens."

"I was wondering why those three looked a little different." Lumiere shook her head incredulously. "But…_why_ would do something like that?"

Éclair hung her head until her hair obscured most of her face. "I asked Wirbelwind for help," she answered in a low voice, "and he wouldn't help me. He wouldn't help me save you."

Lumiere stayed her tongue, despite the urge to comment.

"I was scared," her partner continued after a brief pause. "I was angry. I couldn't do anything to save you and I hated it. I told him then and I'll tell you right now, you're worth more to me than our ship, a _million_ times more."

Lumiere reached up to her partner's face with one apprehensive hand. Her fingers brushed that soft, new skin on Éclair's cheek and something stirred in her chest. She had to blush, but she could not tear her gaze away. Before she knew, Éclair was wrapped round her, face buried against the smaller girl's neck, sobbing quietly. That took her aback somewhat, but she was not one to abandon her partner for any reason. She brought her arms round Éclair's neck and held on tight, pressing her face into that thick mass of soft purple hair, her eyes drifting slowly shut.

"You know what?" she whispered into her partner's ear after the taller girl seemed to have calmed down considerably.

"Hm?" replied Éclair in much the same tone, still muffled by Lumiere's shoulder.

"I think…I know how you feel." Lumiere swallowed down hard. She was blushing furiously now, but that did not really matter. "The most horrible part of my life, out of all the missions we've been on together…I hated losing you the most. I hated having to watch you die so many times."

"You mean…you…"

"Well, that's what I think we should figure out. And it might take me quite a while, to be honest."

Éclair just giggled. "That's okay. I've got the rest of my life to spend on you, remember, and that's one hell of a long time for people like us."

They sat there for quite a while, in fact, never really bothering to wonder what their dear friend Armblast was busy doing that might take so long. When Éclair finally pulled herself back, Lumiere was still clinging to the taller girl's neck, flatly refusing to let go, so she cradled her smaller partner against her chest and stroked her fingers into that thick green hair.

"Say," whispered Éclair after a very long time. "You think they'll throw us out for this? I don't think the GOTT allows colleagues to have…er…intimate relationships."

Lumiere giggled. "Tweedle-dee never had a problem."

Éclair snorted derogatively. "They're siblings, silly."

"That's a pretty intimate relationship in its own way, you know."

"Hey, I guess you have a point. But what about Cesario and-"

"-Let's…not go there." Lumiere grimaced slightly.

"Agreed," replied Éclair with a slight shudder. "Hey, y'wonder if Sinistra had a girlfriend in the ES? He seems like a really smooth kinda guy, y'know?" Lumiere was chuckling now. "What?"

"I think Dextera already covered that." Éclair blinked dumbly for a second.

"No way!" She shook her head. "Okay, so what about…"

Lumiere silenced her with a finger over her lips. "If I ask you to do something for me, would you please stop making accusations about the other ES members' relationships? Even if they might be true?"

"Okay, what is it?"

Lumiere blushed. "Would you…kiss me?"

She did.

* * *

I hope I stayed in-character for this one, at the very least. 


End file.
